The Exiled Life of the Noble Girl

Chapter 56

Although it was still wintertime, Mr. Jin suddenly felt the chair under him become as hot as a stove, and he stood up, wanting to take a walk to cool off.

As soon as he left, Liu Yizhu immediately came forward, turned Li Mingwei to face him, and then propped his hands on the chair back, caging her in. In a low voice he asked, "Did you just say you're going home? Going on a trip?"

The hot air hitting her made Li Mingwei shrink back a little. Righteously she said, "What's wrong with going home? Don't you go home every day?"

"Where's your home?"

"What business is it of yours!"

Liu Yizhu stared at her. He was quite a big fellow, yet was pouting like a child, "Keep saying it's none of my business."

Li Mingwei turned her head away, vexed. "Don't look at me like that!"

She reproached him, "Sir was just here a moment ago, look at what you're saying, you're still a scholar, don't you know propriety between men and women? Last time you also..."

As Li Mingwei spoke she became more and more upset, no longer able to restrain her temper. She threw two punches at Liu Yizhu's chest. Liu Yizhu caught her little fists and pulled her into his embrace, "Alright, next time I'll only say it to you."

"I don't want to hear it either!" Li Mingwei was angry and pinched his waist, struggling out of his restraint, "If you touch me again, I'll tell Lord Tang and have him send you to do hard labor too."

"So was it you who reported Wu Dong?"

He had thought that for an assault case like this, if enough money was paid, it could be quickly resolved. The Wu family only had this one son, even if they sold their house they would get Wu Dong out. But Lord Tang hadn't even given the Wu family a chance, directly sending him away.

Li Mingwei didn't want him to still have suspicions, and her heart skipped a beat, but outwardly did not reveal anything. "Why would I report him? Wasn't he arrested for beating someone?"

"But you just said..."

"What I meant is, if you touch me again, you're no different from Wu Dong."

Li Mingwei turned her back to him, no longer looking at him, and anxiously gripped the chair back.

Liu Yizhu stared at the back of her head for a while, then forcibly turned her to face him. He knelt on the ground, looking straight into her eyes, not missing any hint of abnormality. "Do you think I'm no different from Wu Dong?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Liu Yizhu gently enfolded her in his arms, slowly soothing her unease. "Do you really think there's no difference?"

His low voice exploded by her ear. Li Mingwei felt a little weak, and shrunk back into the chair a bit, sorting out her thoughts. Slowly she opened her mouth, her voice tinged with exhaustion, "Liu Yizhu, we really don't suit each other."

"I don't want to delay you. I'm just a passerby in your life, just as you're only a passerby in my life. I won't stay here long. Maybe next time you come back, I'll be gone already."

She mustered a smile, and stroked Liu Yizhu's face. "You're still young. Focus on your studies. In the future when you've gone far and seen more of the world, you'll probably realize how foolish you're being now."

"I'm already this old. Time is precious. I can't gamble anymore. Right now I just want to find someone ready-made. Do me a favor and let me off easy."

Having said this, Li Mingwei pushed him away and walked straight out, muttering under her breath, "Really troublesome, have to find another place again."

Seeing the girl return home distracted, Wang Chunhua waved her hand in front of her eyes until she looked over, then said, "What's the matter with you, looking like you've lost your soul? You went to buy paper but didn't even bring it back."

"It's nothing." Li Mingwei casually made up a reason, "It's just that Sister Yun is getting married, so I was thinking of buying her a gift."

"Didn't Sister Yun say last time you've already given her a gift?"

"Yes, I did." Li Mingwei was at a loss for words for a moment, then complained in a low voice, "Sis, go take a look at Sister Yun's dowry. Just a few bolts of cloth, and those were gifted by others last time. Even if there's no time, it shouldn't be like this. Uncle and Aunt Meng are shameless to accept a dowry of only twenty taels of silver."

Wang Chunhua's nut-cracking motions stopped for a second, and she spat in agreement, "What kind of people!"

"Huh?" Mrs. Wang was a bit surprised, "That family with the Meng surname next door looks quite polite, and they get along well with you, so how could they be like that?"

"They're usually easy-going and obliging, and pleasant to speak with, but just on this matter, however you look at it, they didn't handle it properly."

Having been neighbors for years, with more time ahead to get along, Wang Chunhua didn't want to criticize others too much. She calculated Li Mingwei's spending and guessed her money was gone. She went into the room and brought out 100 wen for her.

"What's this for?"

Wang Chunhua put the money in her hand, "You've lent me all your money, your purse must be empty too. Take this money and see about buying Sister Yun a gift."

Li Mingwei nodded and tucked the money into her pocket.

This matter couldn't be delayed, so after eating the next day, she told Dong Lei and Xiao Gang to fetch the items, and hurried out to take a look around.

After hesitating a moment, she walked into a rouge shop.

The proprietress warmly welcomed her. She had come to buy almond oil for Dong Lei twice before, so was considered a regular customer.

"Mr. Xiao Ming has come. Are you here for almond oil again today?"

"No, I still have some left from last time."

The proprietress smiled, "I figured there should still be some left. What is it you want today?"

Li Mingwei said embarrassedly, "How do you sell your rouge here?"

She knew rouge was expensive. The rouge used by Ah Xiu was several taels a box. So with a little over 100 wen in hand, she really felt awkward asking.

"It depends on what kind you want." The proprietress brought out several boxes for her, opening them one by one to show her the colors. "See any you like? You can try it on your face."

"Oh no, this is to give someone else. I shouldn't try it. How much are these boxes?"

After the proprietress told her the prices, seeing she made no response, she guessed what Li Mingwei wanted and brought out some lip balm from under the counter.

"These are lip balms, also nice for gifting, and cheaper than rouge."

In the end, Li Mingwei spent every last penny to her name, 118 wen, to buy a box of decent quality lip balm.